1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to food products and more specifically, to a method for producing a uniformly blended food product containing meat and/or poultry flavored textured soy particles, dehydrated onion flakes and other dehydrated vegetables, fruits and dry ingredients such as nuts, sunflower seeds, etc.
2. Prior Art
The use of soy products as a food supplement or additive is known in the art. For example, soy protein ingredients have been used in rehydrated form as ingredients with other substances of pre-cooked, partially cooked, or ready-to-be-cooked foods. Soy flour in various forms (including textured soy proteins) have been associated with so called "proverty food" and used as meat extenders.
Applicant has discovered that flavored textured soy protein when blended with certain dehydrated vegetables, sunflower seeds and nuts provides a product which has a dehydrated food particles pleasing texture and flavor. To combine the various dehydrated food particles and seeds and/or nuts with the textured flavored soy protein in order to get the desired final product texture requires careful blending a specific order of mixing. Applicant has found that merely mixing the various ingredients together at high speed will often result in "fines" being produced. Fines are particles that have become so small in size and powdery in consistency that they are no longer recognizable as specific ingredients. Such fines are undersirable in a food product or additive for salads, soups, and the like, inasmuch as the desirable texture of the soy protein granules and the dehydrated food particles (e.g. vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc.) would be completely lost in the fines state. The term "texture" as it is used herein means that the size, composition, configuration, and consistency of the ingredients is such that the user associates such ingredients with the food and food flavors as they would normally appear in the actual food products simulated. In order to retain the desired texture and flavor it is necessary to blend the certain sized ingredients in a specific order and under specific conditions to obtain the novel and unique food product described herein.
Applicant has also discovered that by the use of the present blending method, natural oils and flavors which are impregnated in certain of the soy particles (such as bacon) are caused to be coated on and absorbed primarily by the dehydrated onion particles and to a lesser extent by the other dehydrated vegetables (e.g. carrots, green beans, etc.) and sunflower seeds or nuts. Thus, the onion particles and vegetables particles not only have their own flavor but also the flavor of the soy particles. This gives a salad the same type of taste as using fresh bacon bits, for example, with the bacon fat (or oils) being absorbed in or coated on the fresh vegetables.